dalekphalm
Limp Gawd
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2012
- Messages
- 195
Hey everyone
So I recently got a new gaming desktop, and decided to retire my old WHS v1 media server. My Old gaming machine (Socket 775 Xeon 3050) has since replaced the WHS v1 machine and is currently running Windows Server Essentials 2012.
I had been planning this for quite some time because of the supposed ease of using Storage Spaces as a Drive Extender equivalent, but I keep encountering issue after issue.
Storage Spaces isn't properly trimming itself when I delete large files, I keep encountering authentication issues, and it's just overall too much hassle so far.
I've been thinking of migrating to WHS 2011 instead (I have TechNet, so I can try any Windows OS), but I require Storage Spaces like functionality. Specifically, I require the ability to pool lots of randomly sized drives together (I have 2x 3TB, 1x 2TB, 1x 1TB, and 3x 500GB currently) to form one large volume on which to store my network shares.
I would also like to have some form of redundancy (Any important files, such as documents, are backed up to an external HDD), but don't wish to do 1-way mirroring because A) I don't have equal amounts of all sizes, and B) I wish to maximize storage capacity.
Eventually I will be doing hardware raid 5 or 6 with a bunch of 2TB drives, as I have an LSI 8888ELP, but until then, it must be some sort of software solution.
I know there are third party solutions, like the one from StableBit, but need recommendations.
The most important factor for me is stability. I want the drive pooling solution to just work with little fuss.
The next most important factor is flexibility, as all my hard drives are mismatched and of different sizes. After that comes maximizing pool capacity, and ease of use comes in last.
What can you guys recommend based on your personal experiences? I don't want to use a Linux based solution such as Amahi/Greyhole, as this is just too time consuming for setup/maintenance. I'm not a linux expert, and if something goes wrong, it'll take too much effort to deal with it.
So I recently got a new gaming desktop, and decided to retire my old WHS v1 media server. My Old gaming machine (Socket 775 Xeon 3050) has since replaced the WHS v1 machine and is currently running Windows Server Essentials 2012.
I had been planning this for quite some time because of the supposed ease of using Storage Spaces as a Drive Extender equivalent, but I keep encountering issue after issue.
Storage Spaces isn't properly trimming itself when I delete large files, I keep encountering authentication issues, and it's just overall too much hassle so far.
I've been thinking of migrating to WHS 2011 instead (I have TechNet, so I can try any Windows OS), but I require Storage Spaces like functionality. Specifically, I require the ability to pool lots of randomly sized drives together (I have 2x 3TB, 1x 2TB, 1x 1TB, and 3x 500GB currently) to form one large volume on which to store my network shares.
I would also like to have some form of redundancy (Any important files, such as documents, are backed up to an external HDD), but don't wish to do 1-way mirroring because A) I don't have equal amounts of all sizes, and B) I wish to maximize storage capacity.
Eventually I will be doing hardware raid 5 or 6 with a bunch of 2TB drives, as I have an LSI 8888ELP, but until then, it must be some sort of software solution.
I know there are third party solutions, like the one from StableBit, but need recommendations.
The most important factor for me is stability. I want the drive pooling solution to just work with little fuss.
The next most important factor is flexibility, as all my hard drives are mismatched and of different sizes. After that comes maximizing pool capacity, and ease of use comes in last.
What can you guys recommend based on your personal experiences? I don't want to use a Linux based solution such as Amahi/Greyhole, as this is just too time consuming for setup/maintenance. I'm not a linux expert, and if something goes wrong, it'll take too much effort to deal with it.